Tomorrow’s Uluru climb ban has sparked frenzied scenes at the landmark as scores of visitors queue for their last chance to scale the rock.
From tomorrow — exactly 34 years since the land was handed back to its traditional owners — climbing the sacred site will finally be outlawed.
But wild weather lashing the Red Centre closed the climb early this morning — with rangers forced to shut down the chain trail to the summit.
To all those people trying to climb #Uluru today before it closes permanently, who’ve been delayed by strong winds this morning and may miss their chance entirely… I say to you, from the bottom of my heart, sucked-in.
There is a god….strong winds at #Uluru stop disrespectful tourist climb on last ever day. .will they sue god for a refund of their bucket list costs incurred.
The climb was scheduled to open at 7am local time, but it was soon closed after rangers deemed conditions too dangerous with winds lashing the western face of the rock.
But after reassessing the climb, rangers reopened the chain trail to frantic tourists who desperately ran towards the rock in a final bid to reach the top.
Indigenous academic Marcia Langton declared that those who climb Uluru have “defiled this sacred place” and that a “curse will fall on all of them”.
Ms Langton’s words were contained in a Twitter message responding to a video posted yesterday showing hundreds of people lining up to do the climb at 7am.
While the climb is expected to permanently close at 4pm NT (5.30pm AEDT) this afternoon, authorities will inspect the conditions again at 2pm to determine if the climb is safe for those choosing to reach the summit.
But while a long line of visitors try and scale the landmark before the ban takes hold, each climber has ignore a single sign at the base of the rock.
The sign, which says “Please don’t climb” details why stepping foot on Uluru disrespects the Traditional Owner.
“Uluru is sacred in our culture,” the sign continued. “It is a place of great knowledge. Under our traditional law climbing is not permitted.
“As custodians, we are responsible for your safety and behaviour. Too many people do not listen to our message. Too many people have died or been hurt causing great sadness. We worry about you and we worry about your family.”
The sign continues by inviting visitors to explore around the base of Uluru instead of climbing the sacred site.
But despite sitting at the start of the chain leading up to the summit, thousands have ignored the plea.
“That sign has been there for years — unfortunately mostly ignored,” one person said.
“It’s on my bucket list to one day visit Uluru but climbing it has never been on the list. I can emphasise with the traditional owners because I know I would be upset at people climbing over my church,” another added.
The controversial ban is the result of a unanimous vote by the board of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in 2017.
Uluru is considered to be a place of spiritual significance by its indigenous custodians, the Anangu people, who have pleaded with tourists not to climb it for many years.
Source: news.com.au
